


At last we meet

by direpenguins



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Cotton Candy Garnet, Gem War, Gen, Pre-Series, ships are mostly implied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7057567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/direpenguins/pseuds/direpenguins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garnet knows she is not like Rose or Pearl. She was not made to fight. She was not made for any purpose at all; she simply sprang into existence by chance, a happy accident. </p>
<p>She knows what she must protect. In her gems, she knows the answer. But she is still trying to figure out all the questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Garnet was not sure how long she had been staring at the water’s still surface when she heard Pearl pause and say her name in a questioning tone. She immediately straightened up. “I was just... I thought I saw a fish,” she said lamely.

“In a puddle?” Pearl looked dubious. 

“Yes...”

Garnet stiffened as Pearl came and stood next to her, frowning down at the half-inch or so of water that had pooled on that spot after the previous night’s rainshower. “This doesn’t look nearly deep enough to sustain that kind of life,” she said. “You probably just saw something reflected on the surface.”

“Probably,” Rose agreed. She grinned indulgently and winked when Garnet sneaked a glance at her. Garnet’s face grew warm. She was sure Rose knew just what reflection she had been staring at.

“Anyway, as I was saying. The collectors...” Pearl’s gem lit up, projecting a holographic model of a cylindrical structure topped by a great wide funnel. “The collectors should be relatively easy for us to disable; the funnels are delicate at the base. But these connecting pipes here contain unfocused raw warp energy...”

“Easy way to get vaporized,” said Rose grimly. “We should avoid fighting in their immediate vicinity if we can help it.”

Having spaced out earlier, Garnet realized with a twinge of guilt that she was now quite lost in this discussion. All this after Pearl had made a point of including her in the strategy session. She imagined this was Pearl’s way of trying to make her welcome—leave it to a fighter to think of a fight as a welcoming prospect. As for Garnet, the idea of deliberately going into battle against such odds gave her a strange, jittery feeling. She clasped and unclasped her hands around her gems.

“Garnet? Did you have anything to add?”

Spaced out again. Her gaze snapped back towards Pearl, whose projection had changed into a multilayered diagram with several collectors and pieces of equipment looming over the miniature Quartz guards arranged around them. In the midst of all this was a tiny holographic model of Pearl herself, and Rose, and—there, with them—a holographic Garnet.

“I know the plan is a little inexact,” said Pearl, “but it’s difficult to predict just how many guards we’ll be dealing with. At any rate, I’m open to suggestions...”

Garnet stared at her double standing on that bluish-white battlefield. She struggled to come up with something, anything, that would make her seem focused and intelligent and not like someone who got distracted by shiny surfaces. Instead she heard herself say more or less what she had been thinking. “I was just wondering why you’re planning to attack the Warp Farm in the first place. If it’s so heavily guarded...”

Pearl frowned. “It’s heavily guarded because it’s vital to setting up colony operations. If we can disable the creation of new warp points, even temporarily, we delay the next phase of colony-building and give ourselves more breathing room to prepare our next move. Even better—I realize this is a bit of a long shot, but—” 

She gestured excitedly with two fingers, taking no notice as her projection grew indistinct around the edges and became a branching series of lines connected through a central column. “If we could collect enough seed crystals,” she went on, “we might even be able to grow warp pads and set up our own access points to the planetary warp network! They wouldn’t be able to block us out without dismantling the entire network, delaying operations even further—still a win for us. Certainly, it is a gamble...” Pearl gestured back toward her projection, which had changed again into little models of herself, Rose, and Garnet jumping up and down exultantly. Blushing, she dissipated it with a sweep of her arm. “But the rewards... and now, now that there are three of us—er, four?—now that there are more of us, our chances are...” She trailed off, glancing toward Rose.

“It’s a risk,” Rose said, holding Garnet’s gaze. “But these are the risks we take to fight the Authority.” There was something sad and knowing in her smile. Once again, Garnet was struck by the feeling that Rose knew just what she was thinking.

 

It was an outlandish idea. But Rose was an outlandish person. Garnet found her almost as strange and wonderful as she found herself. 

It was on Rose’s face that she had first seen a reflection of the joy and wonder she felt at her own existence. That moment had been their first real meeting, but something in that smile had prompted Garnet to ask all the questions that had been running through her mind. Rose had insisted afterwards that she knew no more about fusion than the average Gem. And yet Garnet could not shake the initial impression that the look in Rose’s eyes had not only been amazement, but recognition. 

That moment was the first it ever occurred to Garnet that she might not have to defy every Gem in the universe in order to stay together. That another could feel about her the way she felt about herself.

Garnet was not accustomed to the feeling that her own existence was something to be treasured and protected. Ruby, like all Rubies, was made for charging into the thick of battle, without hesitation or concern for such trivial things as her life. Sapphire had long ago learned to see every hurt or indignity as immutable and inevitable; she could no more fear damage to herself than she could fear the authority of Blue Diamond or the increase of entropy over time.

As Garnet, there were times when the mere fact that she existed made her want to weep with joy. Other times she wanted to weep with despair, knowing that she might not last forever. 

 

As they planned and prepared, Rose and Pearl continued to make attacks on random colony sites, to help obscure the fact that their primary target was the Warp Farm. Rose always insisted that Garnet remain under cover some distance from the fighting, as a lookout. It seemed to Garnet that Pearl was a bit disappointed by this, though she didn’t say anything. _She wants me to fight_ , Garnet thought. _What good is a Fusion that doesn’t fight?_

Pearl was also strange and wonderful, in her own way. A warrior Pearl seemed like such a paradox, and yet watching her, there could be little doubt that she was meant to be a fighter. Her every move seemed tightly controlled and yet effortless, even outside of battle. One day, perhaps, Garnet would gather the nerve to ask Rose how such a unique Pearl had come to be. She might have asked Pearl, but dreaded the thought of offending her somehow. This was not a Gem whose bad side you wanted to be on.

Garnet knew she was not like Pearl or Rose. With every step, the length of her own legs amazed her, and a good shock could probably unfuse her. She was not made to fight. She was not made for any purpose at all; she had simply sprung into being by chance. A happy accident, beautiful and ephemeral. 

Her existence was even less likely than a fish in a rain puddle. And she was afraid. 

Her fear took concrete form on the day Rose came trudging back from an attack on a spire construction site, carrying a smooth, ovoid white gem.

“No no, she’ll be fine!” Rose said hastily upon seeing Garnet’s face. “She just needs to regenerate. These things happen sometimes. She’ll be back before you know it.” Her smile did not quite reach her eyes, which kept glancing back at Pearl’s gem.

Garnet found it difficult to look at the two of them. If even someone like Pearl could not stand up to to all those who were trying to destroy them, what chance did _she_ have?

The one thing she knew, beyond all doubt, was that she had to stay together. No matter what.

 

With Pearl in her gem, Rose was left in an awkward position. She was unwilling to leave Pearl unattended and vulnerable, and yet she could not carry the gem with her in a pocket or bag, as this would impede reforming. She ended up laying the gem carefully in an indentation on a moss-covered boulder and sitting by it day and night. 

Garnet knew she was not likely to get a better opportunity. So on a moonlit evening, she slipped out past the confines of their secluded grove and headed east with as much determination as she could muster.

Even if her absence was noticed, she knew Rose would not leave Pearl behind in order to give chase. Garnet felt sure that Rose was aware of her doubts—why else keep her out of battle? Even so, her insides twisted at the thought of leaving without so much as a goodbye; but the thought of having to see the disappointment on Rose’s face hurt her even worse. And Pearl... someone like Pearl would never understand.

The moon climbed higher in the sky, lighting her way as she picked and stumbled her way down a steep hillside to the valley below. From there, she would get her bearings and figure out the best direction to take. Perhaps it was finally time to try looking into the future...

“Garnet?”

She whirled around in time to see Rose—with Pearl’s gem cradled awkwardly in the crook of her left arm—alight behind her, having descended the slope in one graceful leap. She stood staring at Garnet for a moment, as if trying to figure out what to say. Garnet looked down at the ground; the obvious distress in those eyes was exactly what she had wanted to avoid.

Finally Rose said, “You’re leaving us, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry,” said Garnet, “I’m sorry, I can’t do it, I’m not like you two, I’m not strong enough... If they catch me, they’ll split us up, Ruby will be shattered... Sapphire too if we’re seen with the rebellion... I can’t let that happen, I can’t, I...”

“Oh Garnet.” Rose sighed and sat down on the grass, carefully arranging her skirts to cushion Pearl’s gem. “I’m the one who’s sorry. It’s true, I never actually asked you if you wanted to join in our fight. I suppose I was afraid you would say yes.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Garnet edged closer and crouched down on her haunches. “You... were afraid?”

Rose chuckled sadly. “You know, I never really asked Pearl either. The moment I told her that I planned to fight for the Earth, she insisted on fighting with me.”

 _Of course she did_ , Garnet thought. But the fact that Rose had even thought of asking first made Garnet ache for her even more.

“I don’t know if I would ever have found the courage to go through with this rebellion without Pearl,” Rose went on. “But I'm also scared to have her with me.”

“She is pretty terrifying.”

Rose laughed aloud at that. Garnet bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from smiling. It wasn’t exactly a joke, but Rose’s laughter was infectious.

“There is that,” said Rose. “But what I’m always afraid of is the next time she ends up like this. Or worse.” She shifted Pearl’s gem from one hand to the other. “Sometimes I think it’s easier not to be afraid if you’re alone—you don’t have to fear for anyone other than yourself. And you, well...” She smiled. “You’re never alone, are you?”

“Rose, I wish... I wish I could be what you need.”

“I need you to be what you are. It will be a comfort to me just to know that you’re out there, somewhere in the universe.” Rose floated to her feet, holding Pearl’s gem with both hands. In the moonlight, her eyes shone. “I’m so happy to have met you, Garnet.”

“Me too,” said Garnet, not trusting herself to say any more. The words felt thick in her throat, and all three of her eyes prickled.

 

When Sapphire and Ruby and the other Rubies arrived on Earth, they were able to go directly from the Galaxy Warp to the Sky Arena, thanks to the warp pad that had been installed for the convenience of Blue Diamond and her courtiers. However, more than half of the planet’s warp network was still under construction; many of the Gems arriving from Homeworld and elsewhere had to hop on a transport or ferry to get to their final destination. All these transports coming and going overhead made finding the Galaxy Warp from the ground easier than Garnet expected.

The water between her and the Warp was deeper than any of the lakes and rivers she had seen inland; but if she walked straight along the bottom, she should be able to get there safely enough, without being carried off course by water currents. Plus, she would avoid being spotted from above by Gem transports.

Once she reached the Warp, she would have to unfuse for a while. Hopefully they would not attract attention as just another snooty aristocrat and her bodyguard. 

_Snooty? Really?_ she thought to herself, and managed to feel both amused and sheepish at the same time. It was a pleasant, warm glow somewhere at her center, between her gems. Sometimes being herself made her so happy she could hardly bear it. This, she knew, was what she had to protect.

Taking the warp back to Homeworld was out of the question, of course. But there were other frontier worlds with developing colonies, ones with no rebellion, where security would be more lax. From there, it should be possible to commandeer a ship to some truly remote planet, some far less attractive, resource-rich site, where the Authority’s eyes were not likely to wander. Somewhere she could be safe.

A sudden melancholy crept over her at the thought of leaving this odd little planet, with its fish and its frogs and its rainstorms. A memory surfaced in her mind, of a sky painted in rosy hues, a warm hand in a cool one. In a way, she existed because of this planet. She would most likely never lay eyes on it again. Certainly not the way it was now. 

_Unless Rose wins,_ she thought. 

She recalled the vision Sapphire had described for Blue Diamond, what now seemed like aeons ago, though it had been no more than a couple of months. The rebels’ future had been meant to end that day at the Sky Arena. Now their future was on a new path; a path different from hers. She wondered how far it would take them.

The one or two times Garnet had tried peeking into the future, she had been bombarded with confusing and contradictory images—some sure to come true, some almost impossible. She was not sure if it was an effect of being fused, or if it was the future that had become chaotic and unwilling to follow a set path; but since then she had avoided looking into it directly. Still she could feel it, lingering at the corners of her perception, like a headache. 

Part of her wondered if it would not be best to just charge right in to the Galaxy Warp and be in and out before anyone could notice or try and stop her. But there were too many uncertainties, and the choices she made would determine whether she could get away safely or be caught. It would be foolhardy to go in without knowing the possibilities. She closed her eyes and focused.

 

With an expertly-timed blow, Rose deflected a spin dash, sending a Citrine hurtling into a nearby claw-armed loader. She turned to face two more Citrines as they formed a Fusion that towered above her.

Overhead, Pearl clung to a long jagged column of warp crystal that had been hoisted by crane and left dangling when the Orthoclases fled. She was using a small chisel to hastily chip away fist-sized chunks and store them in her gem. Three more guards were rattling the crane as best they could, trying to bring her down. She dropped twenty feet and hit the ground rolling, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the falling bulk of the boom arm.

The Citrine who had crashed into the loader scrambled to her feet with a snarl. Lunging for the control panel, she shoved a cowering Orthoclase away and yanked the lever so hard it nearly came off. The machine’s massive gripping arm lurched crazily and seized one of the pipes, wrenching it free from its coupling. The sudden release of the pipe’s built-up pressure sent a gush of raw warp energy spilling towards where Rose was grappling with the Fusion. 

It was Pearl who saw it first and screamed Rose’s name. Rose was still turning her head to look as Pearl leapt in front of the spill. The light washed over both of them, along with the Citrine Fusion, and in an instant there was nothing left of any of them, not even dust.

 

Garnet’s three eyes snapped open. “No,” she said. The ground felt like it was rolling beneath her, trying to throw her off. She planted both feet to steady herself. “No. No no no no...”

Turning her back on the Galaxy Warp, she took one step, then another, then broke into a run.

 

In hindsight, Pearl realized, it had probably been naive of her to assume that the Fusion would fight for their cause. Both of Garnet’s component Gems had been loyal servants of the Authority. Just because they fled Blue Diamond’s judgment didn’t mean they were willing to rebel outright.

It was for this reason that Pearl pushed to advance the schedule for their raid on the Warp Farm. Garnet knew everything they had been planning for the past few weeks (and Pearl kicked herself, again, for having been so enthusiastic about explaining every last detail— _oh stars, the diagrams..._ ) Given that Garnet’s very nature as a Fusion made her a fugitive, she was unlikely to sell them out deliberately even if she wanted to; but if she was caught and placed under duress, there was no way to know how long she would keep their secrets. Either Sapphire or that Ruby might volunteer information just to keep the other safe. 

The thought of it gave Pearl a strange ache that she could not quite place.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand why Garnet would run away. She knew all too well what it was like to live in fear. But for all that Rose tried to act nonchalant, Pearl could tell that losing Garnet had been a blow to her. And Pearl found it difficult to forgive anyone who hurt Rose.

They had managed to disable four of the five collectors spread throughout the farm before the guards started to swarm them near the fifth. There were rather more than expected. Either new detachments had been sent from Homeworld, or the Earth-grown Quartzes were starting to emerge from the Kindergartens early.

Pearl fell hard and just managed to roll away before three Citrines brought the crane and the hanging crystal crashing down. Later, perhaps she and Rose could laugh about how half their work was done for them by the guards destroying equipment left and right. Later. Right now, her foot felt twisted, but it would not be a mortal injury, unless it slowed her down. She quickly sliced through one of the Citrines before they could try and outflank her. That left two before her, with more on the way.

There was a shout that sounded like one of the Orthoclases, and the tortured sound of fracturing metal. She turned and saw it—a length of pipe dangling loose, a humming torrent of raw warp energy spilling forth in their direction.

Pearl flung herself toward Rose, despairing, knowing it was useless, that she would not be able to knock Rose out of the way, that her form was too narrow and puny to shield Rose, that it just wasn’t enough, that it was foolish of her to have ever thought she could be enough.

Something pink and blue shot from the nearby forest cover and struck the broad curved side of the pipe with an impact that rattled Pearl’s teeth and tore the loader arm from its joint. The bright burst of energy arced wide over their heads as the pipe went flying and crashed into the opposite cliff face. Pearl shielded her eyes as the energy dissipated in a blinding flash. When she opened them again, Garnet was standing on top of the collector.

It was not clear from Garnet’s face if she was relieved, or frightened, or angry, but she seemed to be crying. She smashed through the funnel’s base with one kick and upturned the huge cone over the broken end of the pipe.

Pearl watched as Garnet picked up the detached loader arm. Rose and even the guards stood around gaping, their battle forgotten for the moment. With a yell, Garnet lifted the loader arm over her head and flung it past Rose, sending it crashing into the two dumbstruck Citrines who seemed not to notice that they had unfused. There were two bursts of smoke. 

That seemed to snap the other guards out of their reverie. “Fuse! Fuse now!” As they all scrambled in their panic to form as large a Fusion as possible, Rose scooped Pearl up with one arm, grabbed Garnet with the other, and together they fled. 

 

Rose was laughing. 

The three of them had taken cover in a cavern that ran into the cliffs behind a waterfall. Outside, patrols and roving eyes were thick on the ground, but these would soon fan out and move on, and they would hear only the waterfall and not Rose’s laughter. Too bad for them. Garnet was sure it was the sweetest sound in the world.

Garnet tried not to think about the way Pearl stood pale and silent, staring at her as if she had never seen her before. She focused instead on how Rose’s broad arms went around her and squeezed her with such enthusiasm that she was lifted off her feet. She had seen Rose and Pearl die, but now they were alive instead, and Rose was laughing, and it was all Garnet’s doing. She did not need her future vision to know that she would do it again. 

Losing herself was not the only unacceptable outcome. She did not want to lose Rose or Pearl either. She wanted to protect them. More than that, she wanted to be with them. She wanted to save this purposeless, beautiful planet where Ruby and Sapphire found each other. She did not want to die or be split up, so she would live, and stay together, and fight anyone who tried to prevent her, and win.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the absence of Bismuth; but most of this was written before her episode aired. She’s most likely around, doing important Crystal Gem stuff... elsewhere?

In one corner of the room, a human sat calmly examining a cracked pot, ignoring the four Gems. He and the other human who lived there had apparently been acquainted with Rose for a decade or two. From what Garnet understood, among humans this was considered a long-lasting friendship.

The other human went around handing each of them small bowls made of some kind of hardened clay, filled with a liquid that she had heated over a fire. When she caught Garnet staring she said “ginger tea,” as if that clarified anything. Garnet watched as Rose lifted her bowl to her lips and tipped it upward to ingest the steaming hot liquid inside. Pearl held her bowl carefully in both hands but otherwise paid it no interest. Variscite examined her bowl for a few moments, turning it round and round, before returning her attention to the topic at hand.

“I suppose I’m just not sure what you’re trying to accomplish here, Rose.” Not for the first time, Variscite’s gaze wandered in Garnet’s direction.

“What do you mean?” Rose’s tone was guarded.

“I do understand your concern for the native life forms.” She set the clay bowl down on the ground. “That was your purpose in bringing me here, I expect? To show me these organic sentients of yours?”

“Actually, it was out of consideration for your safety,” Pearl interjected. “The Authority’s monitoring is lax around human settlements, and...”

“Yes, yes, they do seem unusually advanced,” Variscite went on, as if Pearl had not spoken. “An emergent civilization of short-lived organics is not something I expected to be dealing with when Homeworld sent me here. Even if they survive the temporal distortions, the eventual erosion of the biosphere would... well.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the humans in the corner, who were now absorbed in discussing their damaged pot. “Unfortunate, to be sure. I just... don’t understand what this has to do with the whole... _fusion_ thing.”

“If you’re referring to Garnet,” said Rose, “she’s here because she chooses to stand and fight with us.”

“All right, but... she’s not fighting right _now_...” Variscite accidentally met Garnet’s eyes and shrank back a bit, then continued on another track. “Again, I understand that you may have had to use some... extreme and unorthodox methods against the colonial forces. But even if you managed to train your Pearl to carry your swords for you, this is—”

“I did _not_ —”

“I’ve just realized!” Pearl exclaimed, so loudly they all looked at her, including the humans. She set her bowl of cooled liquid on the ground and clapped her hands together. “We didn’t scout the perimeter for eyes. We should do that now. Come on, Garnet!” Leaping to her feet, she grabbed Garnet by the arm and pulled her out the door.

As they walked briskly past the humans and their dwellings, Garnet easily matched Pearl’s pace, but still the latter did not let go. Garnet liked to think she had grown accustomed to Pearl these past few years and was no longer intimidated by her; but the delicate pressure of those thin fingers on her arm brought back something of the old nerves. Pearl almost never touched her.

She hazarded a glance down at her companion’s face. A slight frown. Furrowed brow. Eyes far away.

“You just said that monitoring was lax around human settlements,” Garnet pointed out.

“Better safe than sorry.”

“If Variscite has a problem with my being fused, it’s her problem. Not mine.”

“It’s Rose’s problem if she can’t get allies,” said Pearl, but with none of the usual sharpness in her tone.

“We _have_ allies.” Garnet thought of the handful of Gems who had joined Rose’s cause so far. They were stretched thin, scattered around the planet, and some were easier to get along with than others... But all had joined with Rose of their own free will, and Garnet knew others would follow.

“Variscite has tetra-level clearance at the Mana Refinery,” said Pearl. “We need her for this.”

Garnet frowned. “I thought it was the Kindergarten we needed to get into.”

“We can’t breach the Kindergarten with the Gems we have,” said Pearl. “They’ve shored up the defenses too much. But this new process they’re developing to speed up Gem incubation is based on Variscite’s research on using time orbs to increase mana yield. The Kindergarten techs consult her regularly, and she can get us all their data and up-to-date schematics from her lab at the Mana Refinery, which has lighter security than the Kindergarten...”

“If she’s willing to help us.”

“Rose can convince her. It will just be... easier for now if we’re not in the room.” Pearl finally appeared to notice that she was still holding onto Garnet. Blushing, she let go and folded her hands together.

Garnet wondered if, deep down, Pearl didn’t feel as Variscite did. That being fused outside of battle was unseemly or upsetting. She knew, of course, that Pearl had never said any such thing, and would accept her as long as Rose accepted her. Still, she wondered, if not for Rose...

Just as they reached the outskirts of the humans’ settled area, Rose came up the path behind them. Pearl and Garnet both moved to make space for her between them.

“She’ll do it.”

“When?” said Pearl.

“Next sunrise.” Rose looked grim but determined. “We’ll need to attack with everyone we can gather in time.”

 

 

In the past, when Garnet unfused, it had been without even meaning to. It had been like loosening a grip or losing balance—something one had to be careful not to do. These days, unfusing took a bit more effort. She had to concentrate, hold in her consciousness the idea of being two people, until she felt that awkward tug in her mind, and then she _was_ two people.

“Rose would never ask us to unfuse,” said Ruby.

“No, she wouldn’t,” Sapphire agreed. “Rose won’t be the only one there, though. Two of the Ambers are with her, Prasiolite will be here in a moment, Orthoclase and Basalt arrive later...”

Ruby was aghast. “Is that _all_?”

“It’s everyone who can be here before dawn.”

They made their way to the copse of tall trees shading a narrow valley between two hillsides. This was where Rose would be waiting with the others. Ruby strode a step ahead of Sapphire, feeling on edge. She felt Sapphire’s cool fingers lace through hers, and she squeezed them gratefully.

“You don’t need to stand like that,” Sapphire said.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re guarding me.”

“I _am_ guarding you.” Ruby tensed up as an imposing, battle-scarred Quartz stepped out in front of them.

“Prasiolite,” said Sapphire. “Good evening.”

Prasiolite’s good eye cast about before finding Sapphire and Ruby by her feet. She stared for a moment, eye narrowed, before giving a curt nod. “Not fused this time?”

“Evidently not,” said Sapphire.

“Just that I was starting to wonder if you two were stuck that way.”

“Stuck?!” Ruby huffed. “What are you talking about? Do you even know anything about fusion?!”

“Evidently not,” Prasiolite said, and stalked off into the tree cover.

Watching her go, Ruby and Sapphire both turned to each other and said, “Don’t let her get to you.” After a stunned moment, Ruby broke into a grin. She saw Sapphire press her lips together in the way that meant she was trying her hardest not to laugh.

Ruby knew she missed out on little things like this when they were Garnet. At the same time, when they weren’t Garnet she often felt like they were too far apart, like the moments it took her to guess what was going on behind that beautiful, hidden face were far too long, an eternity.

She wrapped her arms around Sapphire’s middle and lifted her into the air with ease. This time Sapphire was unable to hold back her laughter.

 

 

Garnet jogged up the mountain, towards the peak where she would have the clearest view of the stars. She would have to speak with Rose before the battle, but right now Rose was with the latecomers, explaining their plan of attack, and Garnet did not want to show up in front of Prasiolite so soon. The pleasant feeling of being herself again was mixed with a vague embarrassment that she had not managed to stay unfused for even an hour.

 _Well, so what?_ she thought to herself. _What’s wrong with being fused again?_ But she did not care to ponder that question too deeply right now. Better to enjoy the moment.

Garnet had lost her physical form once in battle. It had taken Sapphire much longer to reform than Ruby, and Ruby had nearly started a forest fire several times, fretting and pacing back and forth.

“I’ll be faster next time,” Sapphire had said, when she finally reformed.

“Next time, I’ll wait for you,” Ruby had said.

“How will you wait for me? You’ll be in your gem. You won’t know whether I’ve emerged or not.”

“I’ll know,” Ruby insisted, and Sapphire had known, too, that it would be true.

When Garnet studied herself after that, she found that she had changed. Her colors were slightly deeper, the lines of her clothing less haphazard, and both her feet were covered now, although the left boot did not match the right. She hadn’t done anything, not really, but she felt pleased with herself. That was tempered somewhat when Pearl had said, in an approving tone, that she was becoming “more symmetrical.” Garnet was led to wonder if she was expected to someday be as symmetrical as Pearl herself.

The sound of metal striking metal pulled Garnet out of her thoughts. She froze and listened. There, again—the distinct sound of blades clashing. Keeping low, she carefully peeked over the ledge.

There were three Pearls there fighting with swords. Or rather, Pearl was fighting two shimmering translucent copies of herself. The fighting holograms were just as creepy as Garnet remembered them, from Pearl’s abortive attempts to train her. They moved with Pearl’s deadly speed and precision, but none of her elegance.

Garnet would have expected Pearl to be with Rose, briefing the latecomers—Pearl did love briefings—but Garnet couldn’t complain. These days she so rarely had the chance to just watch Pearl fight.

With a sword in each hand, Pearl parried both holograms at the same time, once, twice, and again. The one on her left managed to thrust past her defense and leave a nasty graze on her upper arm, just as the one on her right spun around and swung its sword right for her unprotected middle. Garnet cringed.

As effortlessly as if she had planned it from the start, Pearl leapt into the swing and ducked beneath it, the blade barely clearing the top of her gem. Two swords went right through the hologram’s translucent torso, causing the projection to flicker briefly. It re-formed on the ground, lying prone, as Pearl made quick work of the second hologram.

“LEVEL 25, CLEARED” the first copy Pearl blared from where it lay.

Pearl straightened up, twirling her swords in her hands. “Begin Level 26,” she said.

The two holograms flickered out and reformed, standing upright, as three more blank-eyed Pearls materialized. The first two retrieved their dropped swords while the other three each took a sword from a pile on a nearby flat rock.

“YOUR SKILLS ARE IMPRESSIVE!” said one hologram, striking an aggressive stance, as the others followed suit. “BUT CROSS SWORDS WITH US AND PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!”

“I am prepared always!” Pearl announced. “Try my sword and see!”

As seven blades whirled and clashed, far too quickly for Garnet to follow with normal vision, she found herself peering ahead, anxious to find the fight’s outcome. The futures that flashed before her all had Pearl defeated within a minute, disarmed, knocked down, or...

Garnet leapt up onto the ridge and charged into the midst of the dueling Pearls. She knocked down three and grabbed a fourth one that burst into fragments of light in her hands, while Pearl gaped.

“A NEW CHALLENGER!” blared the remaining hologram.

“End program, end program!” Pearl waved her swords as if she were shooing a swarm of insects.

“CHALLENGER FORFEITS!”

“Just go _away_!”

The hologram flickered out and disappeared; its sword clattered to the ground. Pearl whirled on Garnet. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Garnet looked around, unsure for the moment if all the copy Pearls were really gone. “Those things were going to hurt you.”

Pearl exhaled, loud and unnecessary. “It's only a training program,” she said. “They stop before inflicting critical damage.”

“They got you here...” Garnet started to reach for Pearl’s grazed left arm, but thought better of it and indicated the spot on her own arm instead.

Pearl didn’t even glance at the wound. “That’s hardly critical damage.”

“That one said you would meet your doom.”

“Never mind what it said!” In the starlight, Pearl’s face practically glowed cyan. “H-how long were you... Why did you even come here?”

Garnet briefly considered all the possible replies she could give. She shrugged and went with the truth. “It has a great view of the stars.”

Pearl looked up briefly. “Not here,” she said. “You get too much glare on the horizon from the Luminal Crest.” She gestured with one sword. “The ridge on the other side is better; the hills block the glare.”

“Oh.” Garnet crossed her arms to keep from fidgeting. “So you come to look at the stars too.”

“Not lately,” said Pearl distractedly. “We don’t all have the luxury of spending time on such things.” She had already turned to study the swords that the holograms had dropped, as if they were far more worthy of her attention. “Maybe the safety lock _is_ the problem,” she muttered. “I’m not making any progress. Can’t seem to get past Level 26...”

Garnet wondered how many of herself Pearl would be fighting before long. “I can’t believe Rose would put you through such strenuous training.”

“Rose? Of course not! She...” Pearl hesitated, coming to some realization. “In fact, could you... not mention this to her, for now?”

That caught Garnet short. She knew that Pearl was fiercely independent and strong-willed. She knew that Rose treated Pearl like her own Gem, and not like a P... like a possession. Still, the idea of Pearl going behind Rose’s back unsettled her; and she liked the idea of getting involved in it even less. “I don’t want to keep secrets from Rose,” she said, tentative.

“It’s not a _secret._ ” Pearl’s gem glowed as she bustled about, picking up all the dropped swords and storing them inside. “She knows that I’ve been using holograms to train for a while now. It’s just that... there’s no need to bother her with all the nitty-gritty little details. She has a lot on her mind already.” She paused, standing ramrod straight and fiddling with the pommel of the last sword. “Please,” she said, glancing sideways at Garnet, “promise me you won’t tell her?”

Garnet found it difficult to resist the idea of Pearl actually counting on her for something. “I promise.”

 

 

They had barely even commenced the attack before Garnet knew they were in trouble. She could feel the pressure of all the worst outcomes building behind her eyes, suddenly much more solid and urgent than they had been hours ago.

They were supposed to attack the main entrance on the western side, drawing the guards there and away from the small service entrance Rose would use to infiltrate the facility and meet up with Variscite. The closer they got, the more troops came pouring out, all Quartzes—Jaspers, Chrysoprases, and more—when the Ambers’ reconnaissance, confirmed by Variscite, had told them that the facility was guarded mainly by Rubies.

Garnet hated using future vision to plan a battle. She knew she had to, knew Rose and everyone else counted on her to warn them of unexpected dangers and point them them toward opportune possibilities. But it meant watching herself and Rose and Pearl and their friends die or be injured again and again and again. Using it immediately before a battle was an easy way to psych herself out.

Using it in the middle of battle was a nightmare.

In the chaos, it was difficult to separate what was happening from what would happen in two seconds, five seconds, fifteen seconds, a minute, and all the things that could happen but would not. She turned to face a looming Jasper only to find no one there. A moment later, the Jasper barreled into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Before she could react, she heard a whish of blades and a puff of smoke, and then Pearl was standing over her.

“Thanks,” said Garnet, abashed.

Pearl seized her arm and hauled her to her feet. “This is no time to be getting distracted!”

“Something’s wrong. I think... Variscite isn’t going to open the vault.”

“What?? How do you...” But Pearl caught herself before finishing the question. “She changed her mind? Did she betray us to the Authority?”

“I don’t know.” Garnet pressed a palm against her eyelids. “It’s hard to see...”

Pearl gripped her swords tightly. For a moment, she looked as if she were about to ask something else. Abruptly, she turned and dashed down the wide corridor.

Garnet took off after her. She was most likely headed for the central chamber, where Rose ought to be if things were going according to plan. If Variscite had failed to leave the security lock open, Rose could be struggling in vain to open the locked chamber, and could end up getting caught within the emergency security barriers.

But one other possibility jumped out at Garnet, and she impulsively latched on and followed it down an adjoining corridor.

She found Rose in a generator room, taking on a small squad of Amethysts. With Garnet joining in, two of them were sent flying, while another two retreated to their gems.

“You’re just in time,” said Rose. “I ducked in here to avoid one squad and ended up surprising another one. Where’s Variscite? Did she get to the central chamber?”

A raspy voice spoke up behind them. “So the intelligence report was true...”

They turned to watch one of the Amethysts getting to her feet. “So that Variscite really did sell us out to you scum,” she said. “Good to know; she was the highest-ranking Gem I’ve ever been ordered to smash.” She bent her neck from side to side and hefted two huge axes. “I hear a new one’s already being sent from Homeworld.”

Rose’s voice was hard and still. “Variscite’s dead?”

“That’s what we do,” said the Amethyst, slow and deliberate, “to traitors.”

The Amethyst hurled an axe end over end, straight toward Rose’s gem. Rose snatched it out of the air and charged toward the Gem who was charging toward her, matching strike after strike with a fury that startled Garnet, and caught the Amethyst off guard as well.

Carefully, Garnet followed the tiny twisting paths of the next few seconds and saw that while Rose was occupied with this Amethyst, two others would rush her from behind. The second one was in the corner, getting to her feet, gripping her weapon tightly; Garnet quickly rushed her and knocked her sprawling in front of the third Amethyst, who was just rounding the bend in the corridor, drawn by all the noise. Garnet had seen a path where the third Amethyst would be tripped up just long enough for Rose to dispatch the first one and turn around.

But Garnet’s timing was off; she had moved too soon. The third Amethyst had an extra split second to step over her prone cohort and charge toward Rose’s unprotected back, axe raised.

A pale streak flew past Garnet, and there was a sound of clashing metal and a muffled crunch. Pearl had thrown herself between Rose and the rushing Amethyst and met the axe’s blade with two swords, but it was not enough to stop the swing’s momentum.

Apart from the noise she made—a hissing exhale through gritted teeth—Pearl barely reacted to the massive blade sunk deep in her torso. The pain seemed to show more on Rose’s face.

The Amethyst blinked, bemused, and wrenched the axe back for another blow, only to find that it would not come free. Pearl, shaking with the effort of holding her physical form together, had a similar death grip on the blade and handle. In that moment’s delay, Rose thrust her axe against the Amethyst’s sternum while Garnet slammed into the Amethyst from behind. There was a loud poof, and a faceted purple gem clattered to the floor.

A moment later, Pearl’s form gave out as well. Rose grabbed for the white gem, but it slipped through her trembling fingers. Garnet dove and caught it. Wordlessly, she placed the gem in Rose’s cupped hands.

“Well done Garnet.” Rose managed a wan smile. “Let’s get out of here and sound the retreat.”

The sight of Rose with Pearl’s gem in her hands was a familiar one now, and not just because it had figured in so many of the possible outcomes of this battle. The futures where Pearl got hurt were the ones that usually came true.

 

 

“You’re going to start another forest fire,” said Sapphire.

Ruby jumped as the once-wet leaves beneath her feet started to crisp and smolder, sending up tentative wisps of smoke. Just like that, she had neatly sidestepped the future where she started a much larger conflagration that Sapphire would have had to put out with ice magic. Or had Sapphire sidestepped it, by warning Ruby in the first place? Sapphire was still getting used to the idea of a future that was not an immutable straight path, but something she could affect with her actions. This sort of thing came much more naturally to Garnet.

“Well what do you expect?” said Ruby. She started to pace back and forth, a habit she had developed in an effort to avoid setting the ground on fire (with only occasional success). “Rose is too upset about that whole bash-up at the refinery to plan our next move. Pearl has been in her gem for almost four days now. And you still won’t tell me why we keep unfusing!”

“You’re making this out to be something much bigger than it is.”

“Is it because of Prasiolite?” Ruby smote one fist against her open palm. “I swear, I’ll pound her into the dirt, just you watch me...”

“No you will not,” said Sapphire. “We’re supposed to be fighting the enemy, not each other.” _And I’m certainly not letting you beat her up without me_ , she thought, but there was no future where saying that aloud would be at all helpful to the situation. “This isn’t about Prasiolite.”

“Is it what Variscite said?”

“What Variscite said is of no consequence. And in any case, she’s dead.”

Ruby grimaced. “It’s Pearl, isn’t it? You’re afraid she doesn’t like us?”

“Don’t try to blame Pearl now.”

“Then what?” Ruby demanded. “Do you just.... not like being fused anymore?”

“It has nothing to do with what I like,” said Sapphire, exasperated in spite of herself. “Be reasonable. We can’t just be Garnet all the time.”

“Why not?”

Sapphire opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. She looked at Ruby, who had suddenly ceased pacing.

That two Gems could not possibly remain fused all the time had seemed like such an obvious fact that it had never occurred to Sapphire to question it. As usual, Ruby found a way to surprise her.

“I mean... I get it, if you don’t want to.” Ruby had started tugging at her own hair with nervous energy. “But to me it sounds more like you don’t think you _should_ want to.” She wore that stricken expression that meant she knew she had forgotten herself, overstepped some boundary. Next she would try to pull back, to defer. Sapphire saw it more clearly than she saw her own future.

“Ergh, never mind,” said Ruby. She clenched her hands at her sides. “Just... forget I said anything, all right? I’ll leave you alone.” She turned to head back down the mountain.

Sapphire grabbed her hand, closing the distance between them in an instant.

“Don’t,” she told Ruby. “Don’t ever leave me alone.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship will be relevant throughout the fic, this will be the only chapter in which they actually appear.  
> Sorry again for no Bismuth; I felt I would have to significantly rework my outline for the fic in order to include her. I might find a way to bring her up in a future chapter but don’t count on her making an actual appearance. I have also chosen not to directly bring up any of the big Pink Diamond revelations from Summer of Steven, but a couple of scenes were tweaked slightly with them in mind.


End file.
